The Kung Fu Rejects
by Adden
Summary: Rated T for future chapters. Saiki the river otter has dreamed about becoming the Dragon Warrior since her pup years. Now that her clan has died and her hopes crushed by the news of the Dragon Warrior, Po, what will this blind otter do in her hour of need
1. What Had Happened

_-flash back-_

_"…One day, the dragon warrior will fall from the sky, a blazing ball of fire, humility and grace. A warrior this world has never seen. When the time comes, this warrior of which he who holds unlimited amounts of power, will save us when the time and need arises…" the old otter explained, "…My children, children of the Otter Clan, like promised, I delivered your story in great detail, from beginning to end. Now you must hold up your end of the bargain…" the frail elder otter explained, her voice crisp and aged, like her appearance. Her fur was a dull grey, her eye's glowed a bright and vivid gold. The kimono she wore was long and detailed with glimmering white Egyptian cotton. Seaweed stitched delicately on both sleevess, a clam, woven from purple and grey thread shown open, a glimmering pearl cushioned inside was the insignia for the otter clan. The elder otter wore it well. She stood up from her creaky rocking chair and her small aged paws dusted off the front of her kimono, "Sleep little ones, tomorrow is another day. Another day to learn and better yourselves for the future and for the sake of our precious clan." She explained, walking to each of the tiny beds that was within the well made wooden dam. The tiny wooden island, handmade by one of their main alliances, the Beaver Clan. She tucked in five little otter pups, making sure the wool woven blankets were wrapped around them securely._

__

The five otter pups all grinned mischievously and snuggled into their handmade cradles. Two otter pups slept within the same cradle, both a creamy cocoa brown. A crescent shaped birthmark sat neatly upon their foreheads. One faced left, the other right, both males. The third otter pup was dull beige, her paws dipped in dark chocolate color. She hid her face under her blanket, muffling a giggle as the elder pawed at her belly gently. The forth pup was all brown, her tail dipped in white, she had a white raccoon mask splashed across her face. The last pup, the youngest pup was all white, albino it seemed. Pink pads on the bottom of her paws and a nose to match. Her eye's however, weren't pink like expected, they were a very light, nearly transparent blue…the oldest otter pup was blind.

"MeiMei, Deidei, Sakura, Mai, Saiki, good night, I shall see you all in the morning." She told the otter pups. She took the lit lantern off the nursery table and extinguished the burning flame with a curt breath. She set the lantern back on the table, and walked out of the nursery, closing the door.

The nursery was shadowed with silence, but once the five pups heard a splash coming from the lake outside the door, the twin pups, Mei and Deidei leaped from the cradle, and onto the nursery table. In a flash, one of them had swiped the matches from the drawer and had the lantern lit in no time, "Man! That story was so--."

"Unbelievably awesome!" the twins completed each other's sentence, without a missed step.

"I sort of thought it was a bit scary…" Sakura, the shy pup with beige fur murmured, sitting up in her cradle, "I mean…the whole falling out of the sky…a ball of fire…that sounds like it hurts a lot. Imagine the third degree burns he'll get afterwards…" her soft voice trailed off into main thought.

"Chhh, it's just an expression, Sakura, honestly, he won't really get third degree burns! Oh and whoever said that this dragon warrior guy had to be a 'he', huh? How sexist is that!? I bet a girl would make just a fine and dandy dragon warrior." Mai explained gruffly, folding her arms.

"It's possible!" the blind pup stated, sitting up in her cradle a blank stare within her eyes, however, a smile spread upon the pups lips, "Hey, who knows, maybe one of us could become the dragon warrior." Saiki stated cheerfully.

"Yeah! It'll be me!" MeiMei stated, his tone filled with confidence.

"Sure, maybe…but not in this life time, it'll be me! Deidei stated! Upstaging his brother by stepping in front of him.

"Well, maybe I could be...I mean I guess I could…although Rome wasn't built in a day, maybe if I had a teacher, I could take some classes on how to be like a Dragon Warrior…Well, then again. I don't do well in classes, nor do I think physical violence is necessary in the least bit…maybe I could help the Dragon Warrior and write peace treaties instead?"

"Girls rule, all the way!" Mai stuck her fist excitedly into the air.

Saiki smirked, "Maybe I could be the Dragon Warrior!"

The laughs and joyous gestures stopped once Saiki stated her hopes.

Mei and Deidei both scoffed in union while Sakura lowered her head and Mai cleared her throat.

"Hey…what's the matter?" Saiki asked.

"No offence Saiki, but you can't be the Dragon Warrior…" MeiMei explained.

"Exactly…I mean….you know what's wrong with you, right?"

"You're visually impaired,"

"Blind,"

"Can't see,"

"It would be IMPOSSIABLE for you to become the Dragon Warrior, Saiki, we're not saying it to be mean."

"Yeah, we just don't want to set you up for disappointment."

Saiki stayed quiet the entire time, her head lowered with each passing insulting comment the twins would make.

"Hey!" Mai's voice was raised as she stood out of her cradle, pointed an accusing paw in MeiMei and Deidei's direction, who both seemed started as Mai began to yell at them.

"Who are you two nimrods to say my sister can't become the Dragon Warrior! Just because she's blind!?"

"Calm down Mai…"

"We meant no.."

"Harm by it.."

"We swear."

"Yeah, well listen up! My sister can do whatever the heck she wants! As long as she puts her mind to it she can do anything any normal otter can do! With or without sight! You get me?"

"We get you." The twins said in union.

Sakura nodded in agreement, very slowly "She does make a point, I guess…as long as you put your mind to something particular…it is very possible..."

The twins were about to argue, but suddenly, they heard a loud splash and somebody land on the dock just outside the nursery.

"Turn out the light, turn out the light!" Mai spat, collapsing into her bed, hurryingly wrapping herself around the woo blanket.

"We're hurrying!' Deidei whispered, blowing the candle out. The twins leaped from the nursery table and into their cradle, only to knock it over and land roughly on the ground. They attempted to get back inside and turn it right side up, but the elder otter already made her way back into the nursery.

"Elder Otter!" the twins squealed in surprise, "We didn't do anything we swear!"

"Yes we were…" Sakura explained naively, "You lit the lantern and we started talking about the Dragon Warrior."

"Sakura!"

"Shut up!"

Elder Otter would have never permitted such language, it was then, Saiki realized there was something anxious about the elder's steps, "Elder Otter, what's wrong?"

"A great catastrophe has happened my darlings…" the elder murmured softly, opening the emergency escape entrance on the other side of the nursery. Given the nursery was a secluded wooden island; the emergency exit meant that it was on top of the water. They had to swim to get out.

"Quickly, take the emergency exit, go to the mainland, and run." She ordered hastily.

"Run to wear…?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"China, run to China," the elder explained, "A pack of wolf bandits has sacked the clan's main village…they're coming here to finish it off."

"But…but what about our parents?" Mai asked worriedly as well, hesitantly walking towards the edge of the underwater opening.

"They want you out of the territory as soon as possible…your fathers are strong defenders of the tribe, as your mothers…you take after them in every single way humanly possible. Now quickly, make haste young ones…" Elder Otter ushered the five pups towards the opening, "Remember young ones, escape to China and I will return to bring you home." She gentlys nuzzled each put into the water, only until their heads stuck out.

"Make haste darlings…" Elder Otter mumbled endearingly, one last time, before she closed the door, the little otters left there, stunned and slightly taken a back.

"Come on," Mai explained, "Let's head down stream and go to beaver territory." Mai dived down under water, as did the other four pups. Their speed was astounding. They glided speedily through the water, as if slicing through it like a blade.

"But Elder Otter told us to go to China, wherever that is…" Saiki explained.

"But first we should go to beaver territory, tell them that our clan needs reinforcements!" Mai explained."Do you want our parents to die!?"

Deidei and Meimei nodded, "That sounds like a good idea!"

"Um, I think we should hold on…" Sakura murmured, "We should think this through very carefully, I think, Elder Otter told us to go to China…nothing else…at least I don't think she did…. Maybe there is a reason why she didn't want us to make any detours…"

"She didn't say anything about making detours!" Mai spat back.

"…oh um…okay…but still, this is serious! I've heard from Elder Otter that wolves can strategize exceedingly well, for all we know they might have already sacked the Beaver Clan!" Sakura exclaimed worriedly. "Heaven forbid, I hope they didn't…I really do hope they didn't."

"We're already too far up stream, we don't have a choice!" Mai hushed Sakura with a passive glare.

Saiki shook her head, "Let's slow down…this doesn't feel right…we should have already run into the Beaver's dam by now…I should know…I always ram into it."

"The dam is the border between our territory and theirs…I don't remember it taking this long to get to it.." Mai stated in wonder.

"Guys…um, excuse me…we just passed the dam…" Sakura murmured, her voice tainted with worry.

The five pups stopped at once and looked behind them, all except for Saiki who perked up her head.

"T-the dam…it's ripped to shreds…" Mai stammered.

"No wonder we swam right past it!" Meimei exclaimed.

"Quickly! Everybody, onto the mainla—." Mai gave a surprised squeals, an arrow pierced the top of the water, narrowly missing her. An onslaught of arrows began to make their way to the bottom of the river. "They spotted us! Run!" Mai yelled in alarm. The pups ripped through the water, cutting through it with their amazing agility like softened butter. Mai leaped onto the mainland, the wet, slippery mud was a bother to grasp with her webbed claws, but everybody was able to slip and slid their way onto the mainland, the arrows still firing, angry howls filled the air with terror and anxiety.

The sound of arrows piercing through the air stained Saiki's hearing. She was almost unable to concentrate on her brother's and sister's foot patterns, to figure where they were going.

A crash was heard and a squeal erupted from Deidei as he tumbled to the ground.

Meimei paused in mid-step and flew around to help aid his brother, "Deidei! You're okay, I got you!"

A second bloodcurdling cry erupted, the sound of metal slicing through flesh made Saiki wince.

"Keep running!" Mai screamed.

A few more arrows pierced the open space around them, and another figure collapsed.

Saiki could tell it had been Sakura's end, for she was right next to her, Mai was still running in front of her.

"Keep running Saiki! Keep running! No matter what you here keep running!"

Saiki's ears pressed down against the sides of her head and she shut her eye's tight, her tiny stick like arms and legs began to move as fast as she could now. She by passed her sister, and leaped out into a clearing. She ran and ran, no matter how much her legs burned, no matter how much her lungs and heart begged for a rest, she kept running. She must had run for about a solid five more minutes, her tired, worn out pink pads led her to a trail. She jogged along that trail, her hearing not the best given her ears were flattened against her head. Her limbs felt like cement. She struggled as she made a few more steps onward, suddenly collapsing on the dusty dirt trail her feet led her too. She could tell she was still in the forest, even she could pick up the vibrations the earth gave away. She perked up her head, her ears fully erect as she sat up, sitting on her rup, her posture slouched. Her aching heart grieved for her clan brothers and sister..however…at least she and her biological sister were alright. She panted heavily, giving her lungs the air they had been begging for, "Heheh, hey Mai…we made it! I don't hear the howls anymore! I think we're safe!" she stated, a bit excitedly. She turned her head, her ears perked, expecting to hear her sister respond. Silence dug into her chest, piercing her heart like a knife. Her sister was dead, her friends were dead, her little pink nose twitched and caught wind of firewood burning along with the tainted smell of burning flesh. She knew better. Those were homes. They were all gone, but a distant memory Everybody she knew where all gone Her parents, Elder Otter, everybody was gone. Was she the last one? Was she the last living resident of the Otter Clan?. Her eyes began to tear with the realization that she might not make it through the night. If the wolves didn't find her and skewer her, then other bandits would. She was left alone…nothing but the solitary sounds of the wood to comfort her and nothing but the stomach turning howls of the wolves to frighten her.

----

-end of flash back-

Chapter One

"Surprisingly I made it through the night. A group of traveling monks found me and checked the area for survivors. My clan had been skinned, then burned, all of our priceless family heirlooms and treasures stolen while our homes were left to burn. However, Sakura had been able to wiggle her way free from the wolves. She was badly injured when we found her, however, alive. It was that day that I learned that fear and child like remedies are weaknesses. They will cause you nothing but pain and torment, so if any of you really want to turn out to be like kung fu warriors you live a solitary life style and grow the hell up!" Saiki snarled bitterly. She clung to her mop firmly as she stood in front of a large class. The class constituted mostly of bunnies, one mouse, a few snakes and one over weight badger. The otter stood her ground; she wore a janitor's uniform. An ugly brown robe covered her bright white fur; her transparently clear blue eyes stared blankly towards the class.

"Um…oh dear.." Sakura murmured. "Eh hem, what she means to say, is…um…enjoy your childhood! Put on anti-disinfectant on any cuts and most importantly, stay in school!" Sakura took Saiki by the shoulder, giving an apologetic bow to the startled school teacher and another bow to the class, making way out of the classroom, closing the door quietly, "…Um…Saiki…I don't mean to be…well, rude in anyway…but.."

"Give it to me straight, Sakura."

"We're the janitors…"

"Uh huh…"

"You're not a teacher nor am I…the monks have been kind enough to let us stay for so long. You shouldn't jeopardize our home being so…so…"

"Be curt, Sakura."

"Well….you're a bit insensitive." Sakura murmured, as she followed her friend down the hall, a pail in her hand while a mop was in her friend's, "I mean…they're only children, we were that age once….Elder Otter didn't speak to us that way…"

Saiki whipped around, the end of the mop handle jabbed Sakura in the chest, "Don't talk about Elder Otter around me."

"Oh…um…sorry..I didn't know you were still….sore.."

"She only raised me…"

Sakura lowered her had, "Forgive me, Saiki…but she raised me too you know. You're not the only person suffering under these circumstances. Again though, I apologize…"

"Stop your groveling and go make me a sandwich."

"A sandwich?...oh…well alright. What would you like on your sandwich?" Sakura asked naively.

"You have an imagination, get creative. " Saiki murmured, dragging the head of her mop along the ground, angrily walking off while Sakura timidly made her way to the kitchen. Of course she had been sarcastic, but knowing Sakura she would take things all too literally.

Saiki situated herself in a different hallway within the sanctuary and put her mop down. She stayed within her corner for a few moments, wiping her dry mop along the floor, given Sakura had her pail with her.

"DIE OTTER!" a loud rambunctious voice call from above Saiki. With a quick twist of Saiki's wrist the mop was in both her hand and she raised it high above her head. Her opponent landed on the mop, slipping, the mop jabbing him between the legs, leaving her unnamed opponent on the ground, writhing in pain on the floor, contorting with intermittent involuntary twitches.

"Lemore…how many times have I tried to tell you……that you're an idiot?"

The wolf pup scampered upon his haunches, wincing as he stared at Saiki, "Children woman! Think of my children!" he whimpered.

Lemore was a good looking pup. Grey fur adorned his body, while a blue rob wrapped around him, pants as well, telling you he has been a student in the monastery for five years. His eyes were a light blue, sparkling like his teeth.

"Any reason why anybody would choose to bare you offspring Lemore, really, I'm curious?" Saiki asked, resting her mop against her chest, cocking her head.

"You're sharp today," he told her, rubbing his thighs softly, standing up a bit straighter, "What got your tail in a twitch?"

Saiki made her way past Lemore and shrugged, "Nothing out of the norm, I suppose, I'm feeling exceptionally anti-social today, I suppose…"

"It's because I'm pretty, isn't it? You damn janitors always have to pick on the pretty boys." Lemore said with a grin, making way after her.

"It's not all about you Lemore." Saiki explained, her voice even.

"Why not?"

"Because, there are other things that are important. More important whether you think you're…ugh..pretty or not."

"Like what?"

Saiki twitched, "Like taking out bandits and villains, becoming hero's…"

"Why?"

"Because some people just have to prove themselves in this world because of the life fate dealt them…"

"How come?"

"Because sometimes people don't think you're capable of doing what others can do just because you were born without sight." She murmured, quickly losing her patience.

Lemore paused, "Oh…w—."

"I will turn you into a nice fur coat Lemore…"

"Wow, you really are sharp today."

Saiki shrugged silently and continued to walk down the hallway, the wolf beside her towered over her in stature, yet she held a steady gaze and a firm stride, undaunted by his height…after all, she couldn't see anyways. She wasn't appreciating the fact Lemore wasn't smart enough to get the clue. Usually when people walk away from you, which means they don't want anything to do with you. Lemore just kept following her though; maybe she should wait it out and see if he would get bored.

Just to be sociable, Lemore grinned, "Hear about the Dragon Warrior?"

Saiki twitched, "…yeah…" of course she had. Everybody had. Much to the albino otter's dismay, the Dragon Warrior wasn't her.

"Man, he even defeated Tai Lung! I heard he is a big fat panda. Can you imagine? A big fat panda beating up that snow leopard, isn't that madness!?"

Saiki growled in irritation, "Why is it that a big fat panda could become the Dragon Warrior and not a visually impaired otter?"

"Well, first of all, he can see—."

Saiki halted within mid-step, swinging the end of the mop towards Lemore's groin, nailing him without a missed step.

Lemore yelped and doubled over, writhing on the floor again, "You have GOT to stop doing that!" he whined.

"You're an idiot…" she mumbled, walking away, leaving Lemore on the floor to writhe in self-pity.

Once his whimpers and sobs were out of hearing range, Saiki was starting to look forwards to a quiet afternoon mopping the sanctuary's floor with a dry mop. Pointless, yes but at least she'd be left alone for a while. As soon as she thought she had been alone, she was flipped onto her stomach by some strange force, something dancing on her back merrily. As soon as the tap dancing performance began to take place on her spine, instantly she knew who it was. Was it really too much to ask to get some alone time, now a days?

"Happy happy joy joy happy happy joy! Happy joy happy joy happy happy joy joy! Joy joy—Saiki! Yay! I found Saiki! Hey Sakura! I found Saeki for you!" a soprano squeak rung Saiki's ears like a whistle. She winced and laid her ears flat against her head.

Momocho bounced up and down, and continued to dance merrily along Saiki's back. The pleased squirrel monkey paused momentarily, sitting herself upon Saiki's neck, picking and grooming her head. Momocho had a black face and light beige fur, her arms and legs had blond fur hanging off of them, her long tail tipped in black. She wore a long red robe, indicating she had stayed within the sanctuary for three years.

Saiki slowly got up and blinked a few times, as she felt the little monkey's fingers run quickly over her scalp, "Having fun, Momocho?" she asked, her voice filled with sarcasm.

"Uh huh, uuuuh huuuh! You got lots of good eats Saiki!"

"Great."

"Saiki, um, I have your sandwich… I hope it's okay…" the beige otter murmured, giving the albino otter a white plate.

Saiki raised a brow, "…what is it?"

"You told me to get creative with your sandwich... So I took some left over oatmeal, some noodles and soy sauce—."

"No…I don't want to know anymore…thanks though…hey Momocho, you hungry? Doesn't this sandwich look good?" Saiki raised the plate to her shoulder, so the squirrel monkey could take a sniff. She squeaked distastefully and hissed, "Eww! No! No! No good eats!"

"That's what I thought…"Saiki handed the plate back to Sakura, who lowered her head softly in sadness.

Lemore had recovered from his injury and stopped beside Sakura, picked up the sandwich she had on the plate and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth without saying a word.

The group was silent as they watched him {all except for Saiki} chew slowly, long and drawn out, then they all winced when he swallowed it without complaint.

"…what?" he asked, oblivious, as always.

"I am so angry…" Saiki quickly changed subject, "Not only do you guys keep following me like some poor kicked puppy in the rain, but everybody keeps talking about that dang Dragon Warrior like he's some class act."

"Well, he did beat Tai Lung…the most feared kung fu master of all time.." Sakura explained, "In some peoples opinion, I guess they do consider him a class act…almost." She murmured lowly.

"He beat up the big bad kitty. He's a good guy!" Momocho cheered.

"If a big fat panda could defeat Tai Lung…then that snow leapord might not have been as tough as I had originally thought." Saiki explained.

"What're we talking about?" Lemore asked.

Sakura shrugged.

"What if I traveled to the Jade Palace and challenged the Dragon Warrior?" Saiki asked, hearing the silence around her made her think that everybody was stunned by her thoughts, "Think about it…a big fat panda…"

"…who is the Dragon Warrior." Sakura explained, "You have hardly any experience in martial arts, Saiki. This is a person who has trained hard and long to become who he is today."

"I'm confident in my abilities of adaptation to not fail me. I've learned from Master Len Wei, Lemore's teacher. I'm better than Lemore, then again…everybody is…"

"Ouch." Momocho giggled, pointing at Lemore as the wolf's brows furrowed.

"I could learn along the way. I could leave tonight." Saiki explained.

"But you have no idea where to go.." Sakura explained sorrowfully.

"…and your blind…" Lemore explained.

"You have no idea where the Jade Palace is!"

"…and your blind…"

"Heck, pardon the language, but….you don't even know where the Valley of Peace is located!"

"…and your blind…!"

"That's it Lemore!" Saiki raised the mop threateningly, Lemore, however covered himself protectively and had turned, "Ha! You missed!" the wolf spoke to soon, as Saiki whacked Lemore in the face with the handle, smirking as he fell flat on his back.

"The heck!?"

"I bet a death person and a cripple could whoop you just as easily." Saiki boasted, twisting her mop behind her back.

"If I could move…I would do something just as bad to you, right now."

"Shaking Lemore, I'm shaking."

Sakura waved her delicate paw, "Please, please, back on topic." She murmured softly, "…point is, Saiki, you would have no idea where to go. Your abilities would be limited. At least take Lemore with you!...um…please?"

Saiki cocked her head, "Why Lemore?"

"Yeah, why me?"

"His muscular physic is impressive. I doubt anybody would bother you if he escorted you to the Jade Palace."

"…Lemore can't even spell Jade Palace." The albino explained, pointing to Lemore with the mop.

"Yes I can!.."

"Don't even try…you'll only embarrass yourself…"

A low chuckle neared the group and all heads turned.

"Eww, slimy belly wigglier!" Momocho pointed.

A black cobra slithered along the sanctuaries tile. Although the cobra was low to the ground, he was intimidating nonetheless. As he raised himself, venomness yellow eye's pinned Lemore, keeping the wolf frozen on the ground without even touching him. He was long and slender; his black scales almost seemed metallic. Near his head there was a white vest strapped to his person, he had been at the sanctuary for two years, "I believe I could come assss ssssome asssistenccce."

"Rabok," Momocho hissed, leaping off Saiki's shoulder, coming face to face with the long king cobra, "…why you help us, huh? We don't like you, you don't like us. You're not friend!"

"She has a point," Sakura murmured softly, "…you don't like us. I guess…if you do…well—."

"Sakura…"

"Right…apologies…I'm shutting it now."

The black cobra raised itself, becoming half as tall as Lemore, looking down upon the otters, monkey and the fallen wolf, "I have accesssss to the sssanctuarie'sss recordssss and mapssss. If you like, I could get you a map that would eassssily lead you to the Valley of Peaccce."

Saiki smirked, "Your price, snake?"

"I come with you." Rabok explained.

"That's right; you've been trying to escape the sanctuary for the past two years ever since your family dropped you off here, huh?" Saiki asked, taking the tip of the mop's handle, poking the snake lightly with it, "I wonder what would happen if I decided to say no…?"

Rabok hissed, his head weaved from side to side threateningly, "Then you could jussst drop dead for all I care. I'm offering you my help, Ssssaiki. Weather you deccccide to acccccept it or not, isss your deccccision, but head my warning. You acccccept it within the hour, or elsssse the deal isss off." Rabok hissed. He bared his long fangs at Saiki, nearly forgetting she was blind and could not see. He slithered off quickly, up and over Lemore as if he were a bump in the road.

"Snake boy gives me the creepssss." Lemore mocked.

"That's odd…usually Rabok likes to pretend we don't exist." Sakura murmured slowly, mulling over the facts within her head, "…why does he want to get out of the sanctuary so badly? Compared to the outside world…this place is paradise, at least to me it is…"

"Rabok was abandoned two years ago by the entire Cobra Clan." An even voice stated. A flash of white, cream and gold zoomed past the group and a large, sleek figure landed upon a long board sign, a sign that would tell people if the floors were wet and slippery or not. "The Cobra Clan of the later generations, believed that if a Cobra was colored black, they would be bad luck, which led to his exile." The even voice stated. "He was dropped off here, to ensure he would be well taken care of. Rabok has a hardened heart because of this…he's been seeking revenge ever sense." The barn owl stated. She flapped her wings lightly, to keep her balance upon the sign, her robe was black, ensured that the predator fowl had stayed at the sanctuary for more than seven years.

Sakura nodded, "I suppose that makes sense…hmm…"

"Eve, you know a lot about the sanctuary, tell us when the libraries are left unguarded," Saiki ordered, making way toward the sign, where Eve's flapping continued.

"I cannot say,"

"Aw, come on, Eve!" Saiki pleaded.

"I literally cannot say, guards never leave the library. Only monks, teachers and students ranging from five to so-on years are allowed inside. Parchments from the library are not allowed out…"the barn owl continued, her large black eye's looked down upon the otters, monkey and wolf.

"Then why did Rabok say he could get us a map when he really couldn't?" Lemore asked, getting up off the floor, shaking off.

"Maybe he can, reptiles excel at camouflage and speed. It wouldn't surprise me if he could get you a map." The barn owl went on, looking down upon the group still.

"Okay, so we accept Rabok's deal, he gets us the map; we go to the Jade Palace and challenge the Dragon Warrior?" Lemore asked again.

Saiki whacked Lemore at the back of the calf; her whacking motion was as hard as a whip, making Lemore bend over again, "Who said any of you were coming?"

Sakura sighed, "How about we all go? It'll be like a big adventure! A big scary adventure with bandits, near death experiences….bugs…predators ranging from every species…potential cardiac arrests…heart palpitations…um…wow…maybe we shouldn't go."

"To bad you already talked yourself into it, Sakura." Saiki pointed out, beginning to walk.

"Well, I have one last question…" Sakura raised her paw, scampering after Saiki, "If Lemore, Momocho, myself, Rabok, you and Eve—."

"I don't remember offering my services for this fool's errand…" the barn owl hooted.

"Apologies, Eve."

"It's fine, dear."

"If we all go to the Jade Palace…what will happen if the monks fine out?" Sakura asked softly, her timid-ness showing now more than ever.

Lemore scoffed, "They're monks, what can they do? Forgive us to death?"

"Lemore has a point…surprisingly, they're not violent at least not to my knowledge, and they'll probably forgive us and make us mop the floor twice in a day." Saiki said without worry.

The two otters, wolf, monkey and barn owl made way down the hall, planning to navigate their escape and negotiate with the black king cobra, Rabok.


	2. Are We Going?

Chapter Two

The sanctuary halls were silent as death. Torches lit on the side of every hallway, the tile floors were cold and wet from the janitors mopping late at night. The guards positioned in front of the monasteries library were whispering amongst themselves, as to not wake up any of the students, teachers or monks.

"The chief sure is a prize for any rhinoceros."

"I'd like to tap that."

As the guards continued on with their mindless gibber gabber, it gave Rabok the lead he needed to distract the guards, "Even from a ssssnakess point of view, she issss quite attractive…" he hissed, coming up to the entrance, catching the rhinos by surprise.

"Hey, curfew was several hours a go, snake!"

"Why don't you slither on back to your snake pit before we have to get rough." The other one threatened.

"Oh, well very well gentlemen. Although…I wassss going to tell you an interessssting tid bit of information I heard lassst night about the delectable lady chief." He explained, giving a passive role of his yellow eye's, beginning to slither away.

"Well hold on now." One of them had said.

"Just to be sociable, just what did you hear about the chief?"

Rabok smirked and looked over his shoulder, "Well, if you are really interesssted, I guesssss I could manage to ssspare a few momentsss of my time." Rabok quickly U-turned, appearing in front of the guards again, "I heard from a very sssssatisfied rhino guard that she keepsssss her bed chambersssss unlocked at night." The rhino's face expressions were priceless to Rabok and it took every muscle within his being not to give in laughing.

"Really?" one asked, his eyes lit up like a roman candle.

"Really," Rabok gave a slow nod of understanding.

"You wouldn't mind watching the library for a little while, would you?"

Rabok smirked, sticking his tongue out in a pleased manner, "Not at all gentlemen, have a pleasssant time." Rabok snickered, watching as the two rhino guards left within a hurry. They would be painful mistaken to waken the chief at this time of night. From what he understood, she was nobody to mess around with unless you wanted to end your life in a painful manner. He looked both ways, to make sure the coast was clear; he then bolted into the library, slithering along the ground, twisting in and out of book cases and flinging himself upon filing cabinets. When the king cobra reached his destination, he wrapped the tip of his body around a roll of parchment and slithered off. When he reached the door, he was quickly stomped on. He hissed threateningly, wincing as he looked up, one rhino guard breaking his body every second he stayed upon him. It was a different rhino guard, probably making patrols.

"What and where do you think you're going?" he asked, his low tone threatening, it even made Rabok think carefully about what he was going to say next.

"Taking a…" he winced once more, feeling a burning feeling sensation rise to his skin, making his eye's water, "…sstrole…" he managed to squeeze out. "Get off! I can't breathe!"

"Boy, you're in a heap a—." the rhino was about to say, but winced, his eye's rolled back into the side of his head, falling sideways onto the ground.

Rabok gasped for air, quickly shaking off, analyzing the damage done to the lower part of his body. The tip of his nose nuzzled his crushed body, wincing at his scales stung to the touch.

"Knew you needed help," Saiki explained, holding her mop handy, except the mop's head had broken off when she whacked it against the rhino, it was lying on the ground beside the unconscious rhinoceros. She held her hand out blindly, "Let's see the map."

"Funny, you can't even ssssee anywaysss." Rabok tossed the map in her direction; the otter caught it, handing it to Momocho who sat perched on her shoulder. "You'll be okay for the trip, won't you?" Saiki asked, seeming troubled. They didn't need any dead weight.

"Oh sure…being impaled by a four thoussssand pound rhino doesn't put a dent in my step." He hissed, attempting to slither, but winced at doing so, "I'm sssore, but I'll be fine.."

Eve hovered above, flapping her wings slowly to stay a few feet off the ground, "We can't risk worsening your condition, to be blunt you'd be dead weight, I'll carry you. Compared to the packages I'm used to carrying, you'll be like a feather." Eve extended her talons, and wrapped them gently around the silently defiant cobra.

Lemore joined the group, Sakura beside him. Lemore seemed burdened, as he carried a large sack over his shoulder, Sakura carrying one half the size.

"This is stupid….we don't need these many things," Lemore whined.

"If you were to suddenly drop on the ground and have a round of heart palpitations, I wouldn't be able to help you…" Sakura explained, "Better to be safe than sorry."

"This is embarrassing." Lemore whined again, wincing as Saiki held her stick to his nose.

"No, lugging you around is embarrassing, come on, let's go. I don't want to get caught by anybody." Saiki murmured.

"Too late for that, children." A raspy voice hissed amongst the shadows. The group stopped within their tracks, glancing over their shoulders to see a hunched over figure, one of the monks. This monk always frightened Sakura, given her face was horribly distorted, her spine had been twisted within battle, she heard…forever leaving this poor woman within a slouched position, like a weasel. Monk clothes and robes sheltered her body and eye's from view, leaving the unimaginable, to the imagination. "We give you one rule…that rule is, you don't leave, unless you're ready. What makes you think you're ready to leave us, children?"

Sakura winced, "Ma'am…we're—."

"This was my fault," Saiki explained, her stick firmly planted on the ground, a webbed claw held onto it. "I'm ready to leave. I've stayed here for several years, learned all I could, did all you've told me to do. I'm ready to leave and do something I want to do. They just wanted to come along…they're not ready…"

"A very... interesting reason..."

"Yes we are." Whined Momocho, "That's why we come in first place! We're ready for the leaving time." Momocho explained.

"She makes a valiant point. For one reason or another, we've spent our time here, learning the lessons we were assigned…now, however, we must learn our own lessons." Eve explained. "At first I was hesitant about leaving with them, thinking it as a foolish choice to spend my time. I realized, though, I would not be missing much. I've stayed within the same job, for four years. Change is evident and I wish to pursue it." The barn owl explained, taking long, graceful strokes with her wings, carrying the vicious cobra within her hold.

"A well thought out reason," the monk agreed.

"I wish for a change of ssssscenery…" Rabok explained. "Sssssinccce we're being completely honessst," he glanced from the group to the monk, "I was originally planning on ditching these nincompoops to ssssseek revenge upon my clan…however…with the condition I am in at the moment, revenge sssseeking doesn't look to be within my future anytime ssssoon."

"A very honest reason," the monk agreed.

"I just want to go wherever these guys are going." Lemore pointed, "They're the only friends I got, so I just want to make sure nothing happens to them." He explained, a wide grin upon his face, his tail wagging happily.

"A very unselfish reason," the monk nodded.

Saiki raised her head softly, her ears perked. She didn't expect Lemore to be…so…well unselfish. Sure the wolf was as naïve and as oblivious as all get out, but she hadn't stop to realize, maybe there was a personality behind Lemore's obvious stupidity.

"The sanctuary is very boreing, yes it is. I want to see big trees and climb mountains and eat lots of good food! Yes, I want adventure! Memories and adventures shall be fun!" Momocho explained. She wrapped her long thin arms around Saiki's head, "I love Saiki too!"

"A very fine reason."

Sakura sighed, "I'm still hesitant about leaving. I mean, I know so many things are wrong with this. We only have a map! What if somebody holds the map upside down and we get lost? Or what if somebody gets sick? The bandits, the dangers, the risks! It's all too much, almost makes me want to scream…" Sakura blinked a few times, obviously agitated, nearly scaring herself. "But if Saiki's going I guess I'll go too. Somebody has to patch up bloody wounds…even if I am squeamish at the color red…" she mumbled.

"A very motherly reason. Well, with the stated reasons, I shall deliver the message to the other monks." She explained, "Know that you will always have a home to return to if your heart grows weary, but until then, have a safe journey."

The group of students left, disappearing into the night, with nothing but the moonbeams to guide them throughout the dark forest they were beginning to stumble into.

The deformed monk wobbled towards the edge of the sanctuary, standing upon the edge that led to a long mile of stairs. She watched the students leave, until her battered golden eyes could no longer see them any longer.

Two more monks, a python and a hare walked up behind the other and the python, gently stroked the deformed monk's hump, "Indeed you have much chivalry and grace about you, Master Otter…letting go the two children you had raised ever since they were born."

"Indeed, the heart ache must be treamendous." The hare murmured apologetically.

"No," the monk shook her head slowly, "For I have learned, if you truly love somebody, you set them free. They will return, I will see my precious pups again."

The hue moon stayed bright all-night and the Elder Otter continued to stand upon the edge of the sanctuary watching, reminiscing, praying for the students safe journey.


End file.
